Market Orientation and Business Performance among Smes Based in Ardabil Industrial City-Iran

Abstract

Market orientation and its effect on organizational performance is one of the main debates on market and costumer management. Companies do a lot of actions in order to enhance organizational performance rate and customer orientation is one of those actions in respect to past studies. In present research we studied the relation between customer orientation and organizational performance of SMEs located in Industrial Estates of Ardebil City from Narver and Slater's point of view. Using Narver and Slatter's view, market orientation was studied in customer orientation, competitor orientation and inter-functional coordination aspects. And we studied organizational performance in 3 aspects of: organizational effectiveness (relative quality of success in presenting new products, organization ability in customer-retention), market share and growth (sail's level, sail's growth, relative market share) and profitability (capital retention rate and profit margin). Relationship between market orientation and organizational performance was measured using correlation test and its result is a positive and significant relationship between market orientation and organizational performance. Among market orientation aspects, there is a positive and significant relationship between customer orientation and organizational performance and there is also a positive and significant relationship between inter-functional coordination and organizational performance. And there is not a significant relationship between competitor orientation and organizational performance but the relationship is positive.